About

Welcome to my journey as a visual artist!

 

Growing up in a highly creative family, our exposure to nature, museums, theater, and travel shaped each of us in a different way. My siblings include an author, a music teacher, and an actress/yoga business owner. Jens Jensen, the renowned landscape architect, early environmentalist, author, and painter was our great grandfather.

My formal art education began as a senior in high school at the Saturday school of the Chicago Art Institute. Following graduation, I went to Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Rande (my husband) and I were married shortly thereafter and moved to Denver, Colorado.

I began my career in commercial art and graphic design as an advertising assistant for a national corporation. I went on to become a technical illustrator for a British company and then a staff artist at a Cable publishing company. I did illustrations, cartoons, layouts, and more. Eventually, as a freelancer, I provided newspaper ads, menu designs, and brochures for over 14 years. 

Several years and two children later, another move took us to Minnesota. There I studied acrylic painting with French/Algerian artist Frederic Munoz and returned to drawing. Working in clay and creating life sized portraits soon followed. Two years later, I was selected to be in the Women's Art Registry Mentor/Protege Program. The program ended with a large exhibition at the Nash Gallery in Minneapolis including over 30 of my clay life masks. Numerous juried shows, group, and individual shows followed, featuring expressionist painting, drawings, and raku pottery.

Three workshops in Taos, New Mexico provided a rare opportunity to study Anasazi and Acoma pottery from the daughters of Lucy Lewis (one of the two most influential female potters in the Southwest). Using clay dug up on the reservation, Emma and Dolores taught us how to create traditional pieces decorated with natural stains, painted with chewed yucca brushes, and fired with cow dung at the Taos pueblo. It was an incredible experience! I continued making pottery in Venice, Florida with talented and inspirational teacher, Walter Yovaish.

About five years ago, a friend suggested I visit an abstract painting class in Minnesota. I signed up and, after a painful period of transition, became hooked. Since then, I have never looked back. I have found a way of expression that is most rewarding. It's not about control or expectations but being able to tap into what I know about color, composition, and technique, all while pushing into new territory.

Color drives my work and creates a feeling, mood, and expression. I also collage handmade papers onto my paintings. I like to think that all the layers of my life are coming together in these works of art.